Sometimes days, weeks go by and I don’t even realize what I’ve been doing . . Don’t we all get stuck in the grind of the day to day. . we get wrapped up in . . well, life. Why does it take a holiday, a birthday, or something bad happening for us to recognize, be thankful, say a prayer, acknowledge people and just take a step back?
Life is too short not to be thankful, appreciate the little things and enjoy some goodies in the process. With that, here’s my first FLY FRIDAYS post.
So, I made it through my first full week of Kindergarten and the first week of having my new blog design live. Even though I’ve averaged like four to five hours of sleep a night, it’s been a great week!
I am so thankful for these people: My daughter’s kindergarten teacher. Our school bus driver. My husband.
My daughter’s kindergarten teacher: We had a couple near-breakdown moments this week in the mornings during drop off and she was there to help, calm down and get P in the classroom. She is so great with the kids. I feel really fortunate that we have her as a teacher.
Our school bus driver: Carol is picking up and driving home our children. She literally has a bus-load of kids that are in her care. She’s extremely nice, patient and great with the kids. Telling them if their shoelaces are untied. Making sure everyone is getting off at the right stop etc. I am very thankful for Carol.
My husband, Paul: With the little sleep I’ve been getting this week (well, maybe few weeks) and the extra caffeine, I’ve been . . well, not my best self. The hubs has been great. He’s been my QA assistant, reading up on Google Analytics, learning Photoshop and teaching me, doing the dishes and everything else he always does when he gets home from a 9/10 hour work day. He’s a doer. He’s awesome. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. And hey, if you cook well and often, he just might put up with all your crap too.
I baked these muffins and delivered them today! Phoebe helped me taste test these and she did not like the addition of the dried cranberries. Oh well. Guess I will make half the batch without them for next time.
I hope you enjoy!
Cinnamon, Chocolate Chip & Cranberry Muffins
Cinnamon, Chocolate Chip & Cranberry Muffins . . . #FlyFridays
Servings: 12 muffins
Ingredients
- For the Crumb Topping:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cubed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- For the Muffins:
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 8 tablespoons 1 stick unsalted butter
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400. Line your 12-cup muffin tin with baking cups.
- For the crumb topping: combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until you have large coarse crumbs. (If you don't have a food processor, you can use a pastry cutter or a knife to cut through the butter until all of the mixture resembles large coarse crumbs.)
- For the muffin batter: Using a stand or hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time and mix. Add the sour cream, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Mix until well combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the baking powder and flour. Mix until the batter is smooth. The batter will be thick.
- Next, (you can mix the next 2 ingredients by hand if preferred) add the mini chocolate chips and mix on low. Add the dried cranberries (if using) and mix gently.
- Place about 2 tablespoons of batter in each baking cup. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the crumb topping over each and follow with another 2 tablespoons or so of the batter. Lastly, top each muffin with the crumb mixture topping again.
- Bake muffins for 12 minutes. Then, reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 15-17 more minutes or until the center springs back when touched.
- Let the muffins cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before taking them out.
Recipe adapted from the Savory Sweet Life cookbook.
Gorgeous muffins, Alice! And beautiful photos. Sorry I didn’t take part in #FlyFriday today – it’s been a crazy week. I’ve barely been home and haven’t been able to bake or blog 🙁 I love learning about your life so much! P’s teacher and bus driver sound fantastic (good teachers & role models are so important) and your husband sounds just like mine! I’m always relying on him to do anything tech-y and handy-man-y.
Thank you, Nancy! and no worries! I’m not going to do this every friday either. . but at least twice a month! just join when you can. . no worries at all!!! yes, the Hubs is Mr. Handy man and Tech man. I LOVE it!
Oh now we’re talking! These look heavenly!! Thank you for letting me know about FlyFridays…I’ll do my best to participate when I can!! 🙂 It’s a beautiful idea. I really love your blog and recipes.
Thank you, Brandi! Sounds great! Yes, please join whenever you can! 🙂
I just saw your link for the chocolate mascarpone cupcakes…oh my…that sounds like a dream. Seriously. My favorite all time dessert EVER, EVER is Tiramisu….I’m vegan though now so that may be my one exception once in awhile. Mascarpone is just one of those ingredients that is pure bliss. Maybe I’ll figure out a way someday to master it!! I’ve got to try those!